If you take the Feb test date, for which term would you be able to apply for in law school?

ellie1991

I have pretty much everything ready to go and to apply to law schools I want, but ofcourse haven't taken my lsat yet til Feb 6. Do I apply to law schools now or do I have to wait til I get my Lsat score to apply and submit everything? If so for which term would the law school be accepting me for?

Thanks,

Ellie

runiggyrun

It depends on the school. Some close the application cycle for 2016 as early as Feb 1st, some go as late as April 1st. I'd check with the schools you are interested in for their specific deadlines. Also, I think most people would advise against applying this late in the cycle, even if the schools do allow applications. By the time you get your score it will be nearly March, so the common wisdom is that schools get more stingy with both acceptances and money - unless you are thinking of applying to a school where your LSAT and GPA are well above the median, in which case they would likely make space for you. There are some exceptions, as Mike Spivey mentioned in his seminar, where later in the cycle the schools already know what their medians are going to be so they could accept you with a lower score because something about you stands out to them in a positive way and you won't hurt theirs standings. That seems to be more of a wild card, rather then something to rely on.
As for 2017, the applications don't start until around September 2016.

jdawg113

I would say to wait, while it is def late in the cycle, you can still get $ from schools, so unless a school you are realllllyyyyy wanting to go to has app deadlines before you will likely get your score it is best to wait and apply the second you get your score. For 2 main reasons. They won't look at your application so it is literally just to pay the schools early and 2. you don't know your score. You must be blunt with youself. What if things go bad? Well you just wasted a bunch of $ on applications when now you want to wait a cycle to retake and get a better score. Or on the flip side, what if you do great? well you just spent maybe $200 on applying to schools that you aren't even thinking about after you get your score.
You can def get your applications all done and ready to send once you add the LSAT score, but personally I would hold off until you have that score, then apply right away to the appropriate schools. If you dont get the money you are looking for to attend, then you can decide whether or not to hold off the cycle and retry early on with your score or even if you want to retake again and get in early next cycle

ellie1991

Thank you